manufacturing

Jaguar Land Rover has opened its Chinese engine plant as part of its RMB10.9 billion joint venture with Chery Automobile Ltd. The state-of-the-art facility will manufacture the all-new Ingenium 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine for future Chery Jaguar Land Rover vehicles. During the first six months of the year, Jaguar Land Rover sales have increased by 26 per cent in China. The new engine plant demonstrates Jaguar Land Rover’s long-term commitment to the Chinese market, providing customers with an exciting range of vehicles and powertrain options, as well as to its joint venture.

BMW’s Oxford factory in England is currently the favored location for building an electric version of the Mini despite Britain’s planned departure from the European Union, two sources familiar with the company’s thinking told Reuters on Wednesday. Any decision by the German carmaker to commit to further spending at Oxford would be a boost to the British government, which has been warned by businesses at home and abroad that Brexit will hit investment.

Jaguar Land Rover is today opening its doors to female students to give them a deep insight into engineering and manufacturing careers. The students aged 15-18 have all applied for Jaguar Land Rover’s Advanced and Degree Apprenticeship programmes and secured their places on the course after passing initial HR screening and psychometric tests. During the four-day ‘Young Women in the Know’ programme, the students will tour design and manufacturing facilities, network with female employees, spend a day on work placement with a female mentor and brush up their workability skills including CV writing and interview practice. The scheme is running at five Jaguar Land Rover Education Business Partnership Centres in the Midlands and Merseyside.

McLaren Automotive has been presented with the accolade of Manufacturer of Year in the 2016 BBC Top Gear Magazine Awards in recognition of the rapid growth and global success of the company, both achieved in so short a time. The announcement follows a ’vintage’ year for McLaren, its most successful to-date, with five new cars launched and another sales record achieved. McLaren also predicts 2015 will be its third consecutive year of profitability. Models across the three-tier McLaren range also received praise with the overall strength and breadth of the line-up highlighted as key to the award: ‘We’re not evaluating them as a product line-up, but assessing each in its own competitive environment. All of them are exceptional, arguably the very best in their class. That McLaren has got to this stage in such a short time frame speaks volumes […]

The output of new cars from the UK’s automotive plants hit an eight-year high in May, with more than 140,000 units produced. A total of 141,146 cars were manufactured in May, which is the highest monthly output since 2004. It is a substantial 42.2 per cent increase over the number of cars produced in May 2011, although last year’s figures were depressed due to supply issues caused by the Japanese tsunami. Of the 141,146 cars, 120,120 are destined for export markets and 21,026 for domestic sale. Paul Everitt, boss of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, said: “Car manufacturing in May hit the highest level of output since 2004, a sizeable recovery against volumes hampered by last year’s Japanese tsunami. “This boost, coupled with robust year-to-date results, demonstrates the strength of UK automotive manufacturing and shows why it continues […]

Time to thin the herd a bit and pass on my Spitfire to someone else. Needs a new top and a bit of bodywork, but is a blast to drive. Has an overdrive transmission that works well and a hardtop that I have never put on. I have added electric cooling fans, new ignition switch, […]